Ryan Lochte’s Bizarre Fight with the Brazilian Government, Explained

Something fishy is going on in Rio, and it’s not just the pungent green swimming pools. On Wednesday, three days after Ryan Lochte and three other Olympic swimmers made waves with a story about being robbed, a Brazilian judge ordered the 12-time Olympic medalist and gold medalist James Feigen to stay in the country, according to court documents. “Judge Keyla Blanc De Cnop, the Special Court of the Fan and Major Events, ordered the dispatch of search warrants and seizure of passports of American swimmers Ryan Lochte and James Feigen,” the judge’s office said in a statement to People. There’s just one problem: both Lochte and Feigen have apparently already returned to the United States, according to police.

(Update: Two of Ryan Lochte’s teammates reportedly admitted to Brazilian police that the U.S. Olympian fabricated the robbery story. Full story here.)

Both swimmers say they were robbed at gunpoint after a night out in Rio, but Brazilian authorities say there are inconsistencies in Lochte’s and Feigen’s testimony, and they want to keep both in the country for further questioning. According to Lochte, he and three teammates, including Feigen, were on their way back from a party to the Athletes’ Village in a taxi early Sunday morning when armed men dressed as police officers pulled over the taxi and ordered them to get down on the ground. “And then the guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead and he said, ‘Get down,’ and I put my hands up, I was like ‘whatever,’” Lochte later said. “He took our money, he took my wallet—he left my cell phone, he left my credentials.”

Later, however, Lochte appeared to change his story. During an interview with Matt Lauer on Wednesday, the swimmer said that while his assailant had pointed a gun at him, it wasn’t pressed to his head. A spokeswoman for the Civil Police told CNN that it would be strange for only the swimmers’ money to have been stolen, and not their expensive watches and phones, which would be highly valued in Rio.

Brazilian authorities, who have been under pressure to portray the Olympic host country in a positive light, appear to have taken issue with Lochte’s account. “They don’t believe his version of events,” a source with the U.S. team told People, describing the situation as an embarrassment for the South American country. “This was the most high profile incident that has happened here in Brazil, so the government is really taking it seriously.” Police sources say they haven’t been able to successfully corroborate the swimmers’ story, and haven’t been able to locate the taxi driver Lochte said was driving the teammates back to the Athletes’ Village. Judge Blanc De Cnop claims that video footage of the men arriving back at the village, showing the men laughing and joking, seems to contradict their dire tale. “They arrived with their psychological and physical integrity unperturbed,” she said.

On Wednesday evening, two of Lochte and Feigen’s teammates, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger, were removed from their plane as they were preparing to fly back to the U.S. Both swimmers have agreed to speak with Brazilian authorities, who said they wanted to question the two swimmers about the alleged robbery. Lochte, however, was already gone by the time Judge Cnop ordered his passport seized. “He left for the United States as he was planning to after he completed his events. He was not asked by the Brazilian authorities to remain in Brazil for further investigation,” Lochte’s lawyer said, adding that they both stood by the robbery story. “Had they asked, he would have stayed and assisted. They still have not reached out to ask for additional information,” he claimed.

For his part, Lochte says he didn’t initially tell the U.S. Olympic Committee about the incident “because we were afraid we’d get in trouble.” The committee, meanwhile, maintains there’s no effort to detain either Lochte or Feiger, “but police did have further questions this a.m.,” spokesman Patrick Sandusky told USA Today. “It is a matter for our consulate and U.S. citizen services and we will continue to cooperate with all involved.”